When I was 11 years old, I was in a car with my father, having some bonding moments while driving to fill up gas in the New York area. We were having a great time, and my father turned the car right, to turn onto a street. Then I saw it. My surroundings went silent. All I saw was a car coming full speed ahead right into us. I blacked out before it actually hit. Next thing I know, I wake up to my father shaking me, smoke and fire all over the place, a jammed door, yelling and a lot of brown paper shopping bags flying around both cars. My father pulled me out of the car from his side. His nose was bleeding. The other drivers nose was bleeding too. Mine wasn’t, and i didn’t have any shopping bags on my side of the car. Later I discovered the shopping bags weren’t the other drivers groceries, they were the air bags. Mine didn’t come out, and thank God, my seat-belt saved my life. My only injury was a mark from the seat-belt. It was clear that this was not your common everyday car accident injury.

The back story:

Who was the other driver? He was a 17 year old boy who had just gotten his license and a new Volvo from his well-to-do parents. He was partying with 3 friends and they had all been drinking. In the high spirits, he decided to cut a street corner, not realizing that what came around that corner would sober him up very quickly.

The damage:

Both cars were totaled. Finished. My father had surgery three times from different parts of his leg which got dislodged or dislocated. He needed physical therapy, and couldn’t carry things for a while. The whole story was very traumatic for me and my whole family.

A solution:

A personal injury law suit. In the world we live in today, we constantly hear about big companies suing each other. Or big companies suing small companies. Either way, it sounds like a great way to get reimbursed on an emotional/mental level. Meaning, not just monetary payment for monetary damage, but payment for the pain, hassle and trauma. The car my father was driving was only worth a few thousand dollars, but for the pain and intense hassle involved in the whole accident, plus the fact that the other driver was in the wrong, they cut him a check for $73,000.00. Not to mention the grueling injury litigation process. The reality though is that most personal injury court cases involve a party who wins a lot of money, but lost a lot more than money can ever buy.